Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) commissioner Habibur Rahman on Tuesday said police would not stop any passenger bus plying in streets of Dhaka city unless they break the speed limit or cause an accident.
No traffic sergeant will stop the passengers’ carrying vehicles. However, if that vehicle breaks the speed limit or causes an accident, it will be impounded, the DMP commissioner said.
The DMP commissioner came up with the remark replying to reporters’ questions after the inauguration of ‘Traffic Safety Awareness Program and Road Safety Slogan Competition-2024’ organized by Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology at Tejgaon in the capital on Tuesday afternoon.
The Traffic Safety Awareness Program and Road Safety Slogan Competition were held as part of the “Dhaka Road Traffic Safety Project,” organized by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police with technical support from JICA.
The Chief of the DMP said that in the gate lock checking system, after leaving the terminal with a certain number of passengers, the bus will not be able to stop anywhere other than the specified place. Long distance buses will leave from the terminal and go to their respective destinations. Legal action is being taken for boarding passengers and alighting everywhere.
In Dhaka, big cars will run at a speed of 40 km and motorcycles at a speed of 30 km and a driver should understand the road conditions. In Dhaka city, 40 kilometers for big vehicles and 30 kilometers for motorcycles have been fixed. Legal overtaking is arranged somewhere in Dhaka city. There will be no problem if the driver uses intelligence to understand the situation before overtaking.
About the measures taken to defuse the traffic jam in Mohakhali, he said that the vehicles leaving from Mohakhali in order to reduce the traffic jam will not park in any way before Banani, will not board any passengers and will not drop passengers. Traffic police has already started operations. In this process, it has been seen that some vehicles have violated traffic rules. Cases have already been filed against 15 vehicles for not complying with the rules.
Earlier DMP Commissioner Habibur Rahman launched the Road Safety Slogan Competition-2024 among students and distributed leaflets to the Vice-Chancellor. He emphasized the importance of traffic safety to students and provided key suggestions for compliance with the Traffic Act-2018. He also highlighted the significance of ongoing traffic awareness activities.
The Commissioner stressed the enforcement of traffic laws, particularly for students, and mentioned efforts to improve traffic management capacity through international collaboration. The DMP’s traffic department is continuously working to raise public awareness and ensure safer roads for all.
The event focused on proactive traffic activities, pedestrian safety, traffic management, and the importance of digital signals. DMP’s Traffic Division and Research team, along with DRSP Project Manager Md. Jahangir Alam (ADC- Traffic Admin and Research), DMP, presented detailed objectives and activities of the Dhaka Road Traffic Safety Project. Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Md. Munibur Rahman presided over the program.
The “Traffic Safety Awareness Program” and “Road Safety Slogan Competition-2024” saw participation from about 800 students of Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology, the entire faculty, the public, and various journalists from print and electronic media. Attendees included DMP’s Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic-North) Abu Raihan Muhammad Saleh, JICA representative Ms. Yumi Okazaki, JICA representative program officer Md. Raisul Islam, Traffic Tejgaon Deputy Commissioner of Police Mostaq Ahmed, DRSP Project Coordinators Md. Hasan and AHM Mahmudul Islam, and DRSP Communication Manager Md. Hasan.
